Skrillex Talks Live Performances, Says Deadmau5’s Show “Is The Most ‘Press-Play’ Show There Is”

Representing the EDM scene, Skrillex partook in the panel for the Billboard Touring Conference where he and others shared their philosophies and thoughts on live performances along with everything that goes into it. The conference was geared towards evaluating the Grateful Dead model of touring/performing which helped to usher in the development of the successful modern structure that we use today. Sonny goes into his own views on live shows and mentions not only his own process, but brings Deadmau5 into the conversation as well. Being from both realms of music has allowed Sonny to get a unique perspective on the topics that are brought up.

“I don’t just hit play on the space bar and let it play the whole set. I mix every song–and I do mess up. I’m changing my set every night and producing new records on the tour bus to test out — so it is very much in the moment.
Deadmau5 has a programmed set, with MIDI triggering all of his lights. It’s a beautiful show, but his show is the most “press-play” show there is because he’s running Ableton Live. I’m not against it…But people like to see him, because he’s Joel. He’s an artist and he has a personality. I think that’s the superior part about being an artist.”
– Skrillex

AM Only‘s president Lee Anderson also has some things to say of his own in regards to OWSLA and the promotion that goes into live performances. He is big on logos and identifiable trademarks which are incredibly strong advertisement tools. Other panelists from the conference are Warren Hayes, Jonathan Levine, Sam Hunt, Rock Scully and Gregg Perloff. The whole video is worth watching but for those who want to skip to Skrillex, he speaks at 5:41.